1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed to editing systems and video images. More particularly the present invention is directed to a home movie editor.
2. Art Background
Home computers have become powerful enough to execute multimedia applications that enable a user to view and manipulate different types of media, including video. In response to interest in computer manipulated video, several companies have introduced home movie editors. However, the editors are either complex and feature packed for hobbyists, or so simple the editor does not perform those tasks a typical home user making family videos requires.
The home movie maker of the present invention provides a simple but effective user interface and control mechanism which enables the user to create home movies. The editor is preferably operable on a personal computer found in many homes today. The home movie editor consists of the graphical user interface and device control modules which interface via a bus to the video playback and recording hardware. The editor scans in video clips as thumbnails and displays the thumbnails in the clip window of the display. Using a cursor and cursor control device, the user can drag and drop clips into the edit window which visually depicts a sequence of edited clips showing the sequence of thumbnails. The clip insertion function is simplified by the insertion pointer that points to the clip boundary closest to the location of the cursor.
In one embodiment, the editor includes the capability to trim clips. Also, a view window is preferably included. The view window enables a user to view clips that are playing back a corresponding portion of the video represented by a selected clip.
In another embodiment, the home movie editor includes a display of audio tracks. For example, an audio track taken with the video and a dubbing track are displayed. Between the tracks, a graphical representation of the relative loudness of the tracks is depicted. Using the cursor, the user can easily control the relative loudness to the desired levels. Once the editing process is completed, the editor issues the necessary commands to transfer video in the edited sequences from the playback apparatus to the recording apparatus.